EU nations are currently feuding over how to respond to the coronavirus on an economic front. The European Central Bank announced a huge bond-buying programme last week worth £680billion as it looked to stimulate the European economy amid the coronavirus crisis. But Professor Iain Begg of the London School of Economics told Express.co.uk last week that the approach by the ECB has provoked doubt from Germany. He said: “In political terms there has been a strong resistance, especially from Germany and some of the other creditor countries inside the eurozone to this action by the European Central Bank.”

Now, independent economist Julian Jessop tells Express.co.uk that while Germany fears it will have to share the burden of the economic crisis in Southern Europe, the UK’s decision to leave the EU has given it the upper hand in the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Jessop said: “I think this has underlined the advantages of being a sovereign nation state rather than relying on collective action.

“The UK has been able to move quickly on fiscal and monetary policy because we are outside the euro, and I think that has clearly been proven to be a good thing.”

Mr Jessop said that while he is in favour of free trade, the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic chaos in Europe exposes flaws in the eurozone.

He continued: “I’m in favour of free trade, but the EU has gone further than free trade. It’s imposing common regulations.

“Without those you might have more friction than you might have otherwise done but those frictions are small compared to the disadvantages of countries following the same regulations despite having different circumstances.

“There are lots of tensions between EU governments, some have been simmering for a while.”

He explained that this way of operating has frustrated both smaller and larger economies in the EU.

He added: “For example Poland has not been happy with the way the EU is run, there’s the big debate between Germany and other fiscally conservative nations and Italy and Spain who would like to see more coordination.”

On Brexit negotations, Mr Jessop also claimed that the coronavirus pandemic will lead to the UK gaining a key upper hand in Brexit talks.

He said: “I think one particular thing that will make a difference is the financial system. There is no doubt Europe needs the City more than we need them.

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“Given that a lot of this is becoming a financial crisis, and companies need access to cheap finance, this could strenghten the hand of the UK on one of the most important sectors – financial services.

“The bargaining power will definitely increase as a result of this.

“Both the UK and the EU will be vulnerable from both coronavirus and a bad Brexit, but the pandemic has shown that strength in financial services are even more important, therefore we are far less likely to get a financial crisis than many European countries.”

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